Developing Brand New Apartments - seeking advice and investors

[Gloria Riley]

Hi BiggerPockets,

I am currently a Florida REALTOR (which I absolutely love), however my long-term goal is to own and develop multifamily properties in Florida and Georgia (perhaps other states in the future). In addition to being a REALTOR, my husband is a supplier in the multifamily industry. We have abundant knowledge and experience in how the apartment industry works, property management, budgets, etc. However we don't know everything.

My question is, if I wanted to develop an apartment building of at least 150+ units:

- Where do I start? Who do I contact?

- How to develop a business plan and business model for developing a new community (is there a good template out there?)

- Where to find potential investors that would want to partner

- How much can I estimate for a project? I know I'll need Contractors and Vendors to get this done.

I don't know exactly where to start. If anyone has had a successful development project that is completed, I would love to know the details of your step-by-step process (i.e. from acquiring the land to hiring the architects, etc.) Thank you!